Packaging for the application of a mascara, particularly where the latter is a more or less viscous liquid product, requires careful design because on the one hand it has to store the product in a sealed or closed atmosphere in a packaging volume, while on the other hand being capable of dispensing the stored mascara effectively, generally by means of a brush, whenever the user wishes This is particularly difficult to arrange when the mascara to be applied is thixotropic, because in this case, in order to load the brush properly, the mascara has to be stirred to give it sufficient fluidity.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,508,603 discloses a mascara container comprising a wall defining a reservoir. A cap can be placed removably on the neck of the container, while a rod extends from the cap into the container when closed, its position being approximately central with respect to the wall A brush is positioned at the end of the rod furthest from the cap. The brush, which is bent, comprises a first part extending from the central position of the rod, essentially out towards the wall, and a second part, continuing from the first part, which extends down the wall towards the bottom of the container The said first and second parts comprise bristles whose length is adapted to the outline of the reservoir in order to wipe the product off the wall of the said reservoir when the cap is moved to open or close the container.
Although this configuration does allow product present on the wall to be picked up, it has many drawbacks, especially if the product is a thixotropic mascara The problem is that the said brush cannot be loaded efficiently with sufficiently well-stirred mascara This is especially true if there is not much mascara available, since a device of this kind spreads the mascara on the wall as the brush is pulled out of the bottle. With repeated use, the product dries out as it is left on the wall.
Moreover, the dimensions of the container are limited by the dimensions of the brush, so that if it is wished to increase the volume of the container but keep the same configuration, then the container must either be lengthened (in which case the rod becomes very long) or widened (in which case the brush becomes very wide) Either way, the user finds it very difficult to apply the mascara.
It is a particular object of the present invention to alleviate these problems.